


Snuggling

by camichats



Series: Imagine James and Sirius Prompts [114]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Alternate Universe - Daemons, Daemon Touching, Getting Together, Hurt/Comfort, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-09
Updated: 2019-12-09
Packaged: 2021-02-26 05:07:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,082
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21738073
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/camichats/pseuds/camichats
Summary: Sirius feels like James is avoiding him, and Prongs (James's daemon) takes the initiative in fixing it. In his own way, of course.
Relationships: Sirius Black/James Potter
Series: Imagine James and Sirius Prompts [114]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/752925
Comments: 12
Kudos: 179





	Snuggling

**Author's Note:**

> For the prompt: "An AU where they have daemons (as in His Dark Materials style if you know it??) - the story can be anything!" 
> 
> Little warning for non-con daemon touching. That IS a tag, but since it's Prongs touching Padfoot and ends with James and Sirius getting together I didn't feel the need to tag it. Also I just named the daemons after the Marauders' nicknames just for ease.

Sirius was scratching right behind Padfoot's ear, making the daemon's tail wag rapidly. Thankfully, his tail was away from anything it could hit since they were out near the Great Lake. Padfoot was a bear dog, fluffy and _massive_. James once got actually concerned that Sirius had suffocated in his fur-- as if a daemon had ever killed their human, accidentally or otherwise. Though, given the utter flatness of Prongs's fur, it made sense that James wasn't quite used to it. 

Sirius had a gigantic black dog, James had a deer that was quite frankly huge as well, and Peter had a rat that mostly hung onto his shirt around his shoulder. The only one of the Marauders that hadn't settled yet was Remus. Moony flitted from ferret to chimpanzee to wolf, and what made it the most confusing was that none of those were similar. Padfoot had circled around the Canis genus for a while, and Wormtail had pretty much always been some kind of rodent, and for a few months they'd thought he'd end up as a hamster before he settled into rat. Prongs had had like two changes before settling, but that was in keeping with who James was. James didn't hesitate, he didn't hem and haw like the rest of them did before making a big decision, because he knew what he was going to do almost as soon as the question was asked. 

And that, unfortunately, was why Sirius knew he didn't stand a chance with him. James knew what he wanted, and it wasn't Sirius. Not like that, at least. Sirius was his best mate. The best friend to ever live. Don't get him wrong, Sirius loved that part. He just... wanted a little extra. Snogging and shit. Maybe flowers or something, he didn't have a set plan in mind. 

Padfoot headbutted his shoulder, tilting him over a bit. "You're thinking about James again. Don't." 

Sirius glared at him. "That's not helpful. He's coming out here to meet us in a few minutes." 

"As if you'd listen to me anyways," Padfoot huffed, walking a few circles before settling, his massive head on Sirius's lap. 

It was a quiet time as they waited. Sirius closed his eyes and tilted his head up, soaking in the rare sunlight. When company did arrive, it was more than he'd expected. The whole gang was here, and Sirius grinned to hide his disappointment. He'd thought it was just going to be him and James, but apparently he'd been wrong. Strangely, he'd been wrong about that detail a lot lately. He didn't have time to follow that train of thought because they were circling up-- Moony currently as a ferret looped around Remus's neck-- and talking about their classes, homework, and their next big prank. Wormtail wandered off after a minute, saying that their discussion was boring and he was going to go find a good pebble (for his collection that Peter couldn't convince him to get rid of). 

Padfoot had a good time napping until Prongs convinced him to get up with all his prancing in bored loops. 

Apparently pranking all of Slytherin was mean now that they were seventh years, because none of those first years had done anything to anybody-- as far as they knew-- according to Peter and Remus. It was easier to do the entire dormitory than a single room, but _whatever_. Suddenly, a shudder went through Sirius. It wasn't unpleasant necessarily, but it was definitely surprising. It felt- it felt like someone was touching Padfoot. Not necessarily a reason to panic because the occasional animal had bumped into Padfoot before, but it was bloody shocking and he would like to avoid that thanks. He turned his head automatically to seek him out, only to find Prongs, nuzzling at his head. 

He froze. What the- how was- did James know this was happening?

"Sirius? You okay?" Peter asked, concerned. 

James was along the line of sight between Sirius and their daemons. He followed Sirius's eyes, then paled. "Oh Merlin," he breathed in horror. He scrambled to his feet and wrapped his arms around Prongs's neck, yanking to try and pull him away. "Prongs what the hell are you doing, _stop it_ ," he muttered, face getting red in embarrassment and shame. 

Padfoot, for his part, hadn't been trying to get away or lean into it, he'd just been sitting there as it happened. Padfoot shook out his fur, and Prongs finally stopped resisting James. When he stepped back, James stumbled, arms still around his neck and face bright red like he hadn't been pale as a ghost twenty seconds ago. Padfoot slowly ambled over to Sirius, acting like he wasn't the least bit bothered. 

"I'm so sorry, Sirius," he said, too ashamed to look over at him. His eyes were trained on the grass where Padfoot had been, and it looked like he was about to run off with his figurative tail tucked between his legs. Usually James didn't do that because he didn't have anything to be nervous about, but this was... Merlin, Sirius didn't even know. "I don't know why he did that. I'll just- er, I'll just go," he said, shaking his head. "You know, give you some erm space and we'll- it'll-." James sputtered to a stop, looking like he wanted to sink into the ground and not be heard from for the next week and a half. 

"It's fine," Sirius said, but James saw his hand trembling as he reached a hand up to pet Padfoot. He was shaken but not _traumatized_. Not like after that night with his mother. But still, it wasn't something he'd expected. 

James cleared his throat in a way that somehow conveyed how little he believed that. "Yeah. I'll just er-" He darted away from Prongs and snatched his bag from as far away as possible, not wanting to be closer to Sirius than he needed to be. He put an arm around Prongs and led him away, though Prongs did turn his head for a minute to look at Padfoot and Sirius for a bit longer. 

"You okay?" Remus asked, a frown creasing his face. 

"'m fine." 

"Sirius," Peter said, leaning in a little, "you don't need to cushion it just because it was Prongs. If-" he stopped, then swallowed, regaining his courage and continued "-if this upset you, you should admit it to James tonight. It's not good to hold it in." 

"Who're you, my counselor? Bugger off." Sirius sank his hands into Padfoot's fur, then extracted them. 

Padfoot sighed. "Oh goodie, we're moving again. Have you ever heard of a little concept called rest and relaxation?" 

"No rest for the wicked," Sirius replied, getting to his feet. He swung his bag over his shoulder and dusted off the back of his trousers. "I'm gonna talk to James. See you round." 

"Sirius, I don't think-" Peter started, but Remus just said goodbye. 

James always moved slower when he was depressed, so it was easy to catch up to him in the corridor. He didn't seem to hear Sirius coming either, which was a bit of a surprise. Sirius had half-thought that he stomped around the castle, the way James always noticed him even without the Map. "You look like you need a hug, mate." 

James jumped. He looked at Sirius, then just as quickly shot his eyes up the corridor. "What're you doing? Shouldn't you be with Remus and Peter?" 

"Not really. I thought it was going to be just us before they showed up, and now you're upset so... no. You need me." 

If anything, that made James's mood worse. "I said I was sorry," he mumbled. "I had no idea Prongs was going to haul off and do that, and I'm trying to make sure it won't happen again." 

"What're you on about?" 

James's jaw clenched. He looked unfairly handsome, like a brooding hero on the cover of one of Peter's muggle romance books. 

"Jamie, it's not that big a deal," Sirius tried to comfort him, putting a hand out to touch his arm. It was a simple touch, something he'd done a million times, but unlike those times, James flinched. Sirius came up short, slowing to a stop. Beside him, James did the same, looking more ashamed than ever. 

"My daemon touched yours," he whispered lowly, like it was a crime. It's not like Prongs had hurt him-- which _would_ have been a crime-- and now that the shock had worn off, Sirius actually thought it was a good sign for their friendship. It was taboo for Prongs to have touched Padfoot when they weren't bonded yeah, but it wasn't quite as bad as James was acting. 

Sirius put a hand on his arm, and this time James let him-- though he did look a little discomfited. "It's fine. A little weird, but fine. It's not like Prongs could ever hurt him." 

"Thank you," Prongs said. 

James glared at him. "You don't get to fucking talk unless you're going to tell me why you did that." 

Prongs just licked his own nose and said nothing. 

"James, I'm not kidding. It's fine, we're good, you don't need to worry about it." 

"Why are you acting like this doesn't matter? It's your bloody _soul_ we're talking about and-" 

"And you would never do anything to hurt me." 

James blinked, surprised by how confident Sirius sounded. Especially considering what had just happened. 

Sirius's hand trailed down James's arm before falling back to his side. "Okay? You can let it go." 

Instead of smiling and being relieved like Sirius had been hoping, James frowned at him. "You never look out for yourself." 

"What?" Sirius asked, taken aback. He didn't know where this was going, but it probably wasn't good. 

"We're not bonded Sirius. My daemon has no business touching yours, and he never will. You may not think it matters, but I can promise you that your future partner will." 

"You sound awfully sure it won't be you." 

"Huh?" 

"Nothing." 

"Why would it be me?" 

Sirius shifted uncomfortably. "Well. Why wouldn't it be? I mean, c'mon James, our daemons... And we... y'know? Never mind. You've made it pretty clear you don't fancy me." 

"What? When the hell did I make that clear?" 

"You- well- James, you keep inviting Remus and Peter to stuff we used to do just you and me." 

"Because I was nervous!" 

"Yeah nervous to be alone with me, I get it." 

"No, it's- shit. Okay." James took a deep breath, one hand tightening at the base of Prongs's neck. "I noticed you. Like, _noticed_ you. You'd always been my mate before, I wasn't used to it. And I wanted to ask you out, but it kept coming out wrong and you thought I meant all the Marauders, so I started inviting them along on purpose until I could get my head on straight and ask you out proper." 

Sirius blinked. "That doesn't even make sense." 

"Well excuse me for not being a bloody poet." 

"Why didn't you just say you meant it as a date? I would've said yes!" 

James spluttered, "I- you- well I didn't know that at the time!" 

"Now that you know, will you let it go? Padfoot's fine, he wasn't even bothered." 

"He wasn't happy about it either," James grumbled. 

"Your view is too narrow," Prongs said, and James glared at him. 

"I don't care if this worked out, you're still an arse for doing that." 

"I knew the truth even if you did not." 

"Liar." 

Prongs snorted and tossed his head a little. 

Sirius stifled a laugh, rubbing at his nose to try and cover it. "So er, how about we do something tomorrow night? Y'know, just us. Something special." 

"Like a date?" 

"Of course like a date, it's what you were just talking about," Padfoot said, then yawned. 

Sirius looked at his daemon for a moment, then back to James. "Sound good?" 

"Yep, sounds great," James said. "Er, by the way. In the future, when we're telling the story about how we got together, we're leaving out the part where Prongs sodding touched Padfoot without permission." 

"That's dishonest, Jamie." 

"Who gives a shit? I don't want people to think that about me." 

"Aw c'mon, I doubt Prongs would have done it to literally anyone else." 

"That's not the point!" 

"I think it's sweet," Sirius said, grinning widely. 

"You have issues." 

"My issues benefit you, so shut it." 

**Author's Note:**

> This is from a prompt driven blog @[imaginejamesandsirius](https://imaginejamesandsirius.tumblr.com) on tumblr. Feel free to drop by!


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